


The Rest of Your Life Starts Now

by msermesth



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Excessive Use of Sports Metaphors, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Semi-Flashbacks, ambiguous timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 10:52:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11576595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msermesth/pseuds/msermesth
Summary: When it comes to Tony, Steve has to take a lot of leaps of faith.





	The Rest of Your Life Starts Now

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cap IM Tiny RB Round 3: Timely](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11501994) by [cap_ironman_event_mod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cap_ironman_event_mod/pseuds/cap_ironman_event_mod). 



> Written for the for the Cap-Iron Man Tony Reverse Bang. Thanks [1+5(9)s](https://one-and-five-nines.tumblr.com/) for the lovely art and inspiration.

_The rest of their life began like this...  
_

 

“I don’t know if this is the best idea,” Tony said, voicing half of Steve’s thoughts.

The other half encouraged him to say, “who would be better guardians for a precocious genius with super-strength?”

“Literally anyone else. Anyone who isn’t me.” He looked scared, but Steve could see the hope deep underneath the surface.

“I’d like to dispute that.”

“Really, Steve. This is a bad idea. I’m terrible with kids.”

“You’re great with kids,” Steve answered without thinking, but he meant it whole-heartedly. Tony had a compassion to him that made him especially suited to dealing with children. Steve just wished he could see that. “I think the better question is whether or not you’d like to be a dad.”

Silence. Steve could almost see the arguments going on in Tony’s head. Steve, at least, knew what he wanted, even though it made him terrified. He just never thought it would be an option till today.

Tony eventually opened his mouth but it took a few tries to vocalizing what he was thinking. “I do, but...”

“No ‘buts’. We have a great support network and she’s going to have special needs that only we will understand. I know it’s at odds with our day job, but we’ll make it work. I know we will.”

“Wow. Look at us, making big joint life decisions together. I guess we should just get married, too.” Tony said the last part with such faux casualness that jumping up and down as he said it would have been subtler. Steve knew him too well.

“Are you proposing to me?” Steve asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

“Of course not. I just think it could make some of the legal stuff easier. But, no. Definitely not proposing. Nothing like that.”

This was dangerous territory. It wasn’t like they weren’t heading in that direction. At least, Steve thought they had been. But they hadn’t _actually_ said anything about it. And given how the day was going, Steve was beginning to regret that. He had that feeling he often got in the heart of battle when he had the choice between the safe option and taking the Hail-Mary pass.

Steve always chose the Hail-Mary pass.

“That’s good.” And Steve paused just a second to watch the way Tony’s face subtly fell. It was all to better see the impact of what he was going to say next. “Because it means I get to do this.” He knelt on one knee and pantomimed holding a ring. “I don’t have anything with me. But I’d like to ask you, Tony Stark, to marry me. And maybe adopt a child, in an attempt to keep her safe from government testing.”

Tony’s face was unreadable for a few moments. “This is real?”

“Of course.”

“Despite-“

Steve had no interest in hearing the end of that sentence. “Despite whatever it is you were about to say. And all the other things you were thinking. Despite every argument you have.”

For a moment Steve was sure Tony was going to continue to try and doubt him, but then he smiled, and it was real and wonderful and Steve knew Tony’s answer before he even opened his mouth. “I think over the years I’ve learned to choose my battles carefully with you. So yeah, why not?”

He tugged Steve up. Steve went willingly and pulled Tony into a deep kiss.

 

\------

 

_Or maybe it started was like this…_

 

Five minutes. That’s all Steve had to shower, find something nice to wear, and then put it on. He also wanted to shave and comb his hair, but he was going to have to accept that he just didn’t have the time. It wasn’t like villains ever had good timing. In fact, Steve was almost sure they had managed to get a hold of his calendar. But it veered into the territory of terribly bad luck to have to face AIM an hour before the scariest date of his life.

Steve should probably send them a card for getting his mind off it, but the fight had left him unusually winded and woozy and the world was getting slightly off-balance, and maybe his vision was getting blurry. All things you didn’t want to be worrying about in these circumstances. There was a second- sometime around the moment he almost fell over putting on pants- that he thought about asking for a raincheck. He was beginning to consider the possibility that he was going to pass out at the worst time and ruin any chances he had at a second date.

His breath began to catch in his lungs, and this was worse than he thought if he was experiencing phantom asthma symptoms. He tried to steady his breathing, and himself, by using techniques he learned before the serum. Steve was determined to follow through no matter how he felt, he only just wished he body would cooperate.

A knock at his door jarred him from the exercise, however, and he took a second to do what he could to regain his composure. It did little good when he opened the door and saw Tony, sharply dressed, and holding a bouquet of roses.

Steve lost a few seconds _just staring_ because this should have been what he was expecting and yet it wasn’t at all. It had taken months of working up the nerve for Steve to ask the man out, and maybe he had just assumed Tony had agreed only out of respect of their friendship. But here, standing in front of him with a new haircut, it looked like Tony had really tried to look this good.

Steve could be excused for feeling a little wobbly in the knees. “Wow. You look...” And he lost his train of thought thinking of a word that felt like enough to describe how good Tony looked.

Tony squinted at him. “Are you ok? You look a little clammy,” he said with concern and placed a steadying hand on Steve’s shoulder. Steve felt something adjacent to butterflies at the touch.

“I’m fine. Really. I am,” he lied as he began to realize that what he thought was butterflies was really just some form of nausea.

“Steve-” was all Tony could say before Steve’s vision went spotty and his knees gave out. He reached out to grab something, anything to help him keep his balance, and ended up grabbing hold of the flimsy paper of the bouquet.

The last thing he remembered before everything went black as he hit the floor was Tony’s shocked face and the roses falling around him.

It took him a few minutes after Steve regained consciousness to open his eyes. His body _hurt_ and everything else felt wrong, from the way his lungs couldn’t properly expand to his stomach tumbling around like it didn’t want to stay in his body. He tried to suppress a groan as he squinted up to the bright ceiling lights, and it turned out his head hurt too.

With a whimper, he twisted over in an attempt to get his arms under him and his body off the ground when he realized he was no longer on the ground at all, but a barely-cushioned laboratory bed.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back you go. Back you go.” Strong and sure hands pushed the side of his body back on the bed before the rest of his weight had a chance to fall off the edge.

It dawned on him that he knew exactly where he was. “Tony?”

“That’s my name,” Tony answered, but something about his voice sounded unsure and hesitant.

Steve tried to turn over, and could see Tony was still dressed in the same sharp cut suit except he had lost the jacket and had pushed up the shirt sleeves past his elbows. Strangely, he wasn’t wearing any shoes. “What happened?” His mouth felt dry and the words came out sounding scratchy and unsure.

“AIM happened,” was Tony’s only response. He was staring at some screen, and Steve had the impression Tony was avoiding having to look at him. “Apparently they infected you with something. Hank thinks they planned on you going down during the fight, but they didn’t account for your metabolism. So instead of passing out, you won the fight, went home, and then got sick.”

“I’m not supposed to get sick.” But his body wasn’t listening at all to that. This pain was different than being beat up and it took him back all those years back before the serum.

“It’s some sort of anti-serum virus.” Tony finally looked over at him but he seemed concerned in a way that gave Steve the impression that something was very, very wrong.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked. He tried to remove any sign of fear in his voice and sound comforting. If Steve was dying, Tony was going to be upset.

Tony was staring at the computer again. “The virus is quickly running its course. We’re starting to see some improvements and you should be back to normal in a couple of hours.”

Then why wouldn’t Tony look at him? “What’s the problem?”

“What problem?” Tony said, too quick to be casual.

Steve stared at him as he fought the instinct to close his eyes and dull his headache. He tried to sit up again, but that didn’t work. A cold breeze on his back, however, did alert him to the fact he was wearing a hospital gown. Horror began to spread throughout his bones. “What happened to my clothes?”

“You were sick,” Tony responded, but Steve could tell it was a euphemism.

“I uh…” he paused, feeling more dread than he thought possible, “vomited. All over my clothes. Didn’t I?” It wasn’t much of a question, but a confirmation seemed necessary if he was going to live with this mortification for the rest of his life.

“And all over my shoes. But don’t worry, it’s fine. I’m just glad you’re ok.” But it didn’t _sound fine_ when Tony said it.

That was it. How timely was it that after working up the courage for months to ask Tony out, he had to have been infected with the worst sort of super virus? This had been his chance and now it was goin. Tony was never going to look at him the way he looked at Tony. Especially if the way Tony was tastefully trying to avoid coming any closer to him was any indication. “I’m so sorry about tonight.”

Tony visibly deflated at Steve’s words. “Don’t be. It’s fine,” he repeated. “So, look, Hank is going to be back any second. Are you going to be ok?” Tony didn’t have to add _if I leave_ to that sentence, it was implied well enough as he began to slowly walk away.

Their date was ruined, and it looked like any chance at a second date was ruined as well. _Just my luck_ he thought.

Except… that wasn’t right. Because it wasn’t about luck. It was about perseverance, and being able to make the big plays when it counted.

Steve stepped up to plate, figuratively, and took a chance. “I can’t believe you’re going to let a little vomit ruin our date.”

That stopped Tony from inching his way out the door. “Huh?”

“It seems to me you’re just looking for a way out. Just say it.” Steve wasn’t sure what he was doing. A part of him was scared that Tony actually thought that. But instinct told him to lean into it, so that was what he was going to do.

“I’m not-“ Tony paused and squinted at him. “Are you baiting me?”

Steve tried to put on a smile that communicated ‘cool’ and ‘collected’, but he could feel his cheeks stretch and knew he was grinning like an idiot. “Depends… Is it working?”

Tony was smiling, too. One of those real smiles that made Steve’s chest a little warmer. “Not ready to call it a night?”

“I could go all the way to sunrise.” Steve knew how it sounded as soon as he said it, but he didn’t care. This was how they were. Jokes and misunderstandings and really, really bad timing.

“I’ll settle for a movie and takeout.”

“Yes to a movie. But I think I should probably just stick to chicken soup.”

“Ok. I can do that,” Tony said and turned to go. But that was fine, because Steve knew he was coming back.

Just before he walked out, Steve called his name and Tony turned to look at him. “I can’t believe you brought flowers.”

Tony laughed. “I can’t believe you threw up.”

 

\---------------

 

_The real beginning went something like this…_

Where had Iron Man gone? It took a few moments for Steve to figure it out. That might have been a side effect of Tony naked, save for the shirt. “Wait a minute! Where’s Thor? And… Tony Stark… you’re-“

“Iron Man, Right Cap.” Tony was silent for a second. He looked ashamed. “I feel a little foolish about keeping that secret from you till now.”

_And nothing was ever the same._

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So that was the fluffiest thing I've ever written. Any and all comments are appreciated.


End file.
